The homemade pie crust for chicken pot pie still remains better than any other store bought pie crust. Here, we will be looking at all you need to know when making your pie crust. We will also consider the tons of tips that you can employ to have a perfect result.
Tips to employ for a perfect homemade pie crust for chicken pot pie!
1. Avoid using general-purpose flour for your pie crust! The reason is because it is rich in gluten. What you should use instead is the gluten-free flour. Even if you are going to work with gluten, use minimally. Gluten is great to keep the crust sturdy and flaky. But when in excess amounts, your pie crust gets really bad.
2. You should try replacing water with vodka. Vodka does not encourage the formation of gluten. Water on the other hand does.
3. Ensure that you mix your flour and butter properly. What this thorough mixing does is that it gives less room for water to penetrate into the mix. That way, you get to avoid the formation of gluten as much as possible.
4. When making your pie crust, ensure that the layers are pretty thin enough. However, they should not be so thin that whatever fillings they wrap around makes them eventually soggy.
5. You can mix your pie crust mix either with your hand or a food processor. However, we encourage that a food processor is used. That way, you can be certain of the consistency of the result.
6. After making the dough for your pie crust, ensure that you keep it wrapped in nylon tightly. That way, you can store it in the freezer for a very long time. If you want to work with your pie crust dough after freezing it, leave it on your marble counter. That way, the ice gets to thaw.
Ingredients
2 ½ cups of flour
½ teaspoon of Salt
Cold water
Unsalted butter (it should be frozen. That way, you get to cut it up into cubes)
1 tablespoon of sugar
How to make homemade pie crust for chicken pot pie
Before we delve into how you can make your pie crust for chicken pot pie, let’s mark out a few things. We’ll study how you can make a pie crust with your hand, with a food processor, and other important processes.
Using a food processor
The following steps should be followed when working with a food processor;
1. Add in your flour, sugar, and salt into the food processor.
2. Pulse the ingredients about three times.
3. Now, add in cubes of butter to the mix
4. Pulse the mix until all of the flour is evenly coated with the butter.
5. Add more flour to the mix.
6. Pulse the mix until the flour is totally coated with butter. At this point, you would notice that the flour appears as a bulk of crumbs.
7. Use a scraping tool to transfer the flour to a bowl. Now, add cold water.
8. Knead the dough with a spatula. You can add water if the flour still doesn’t form a solid dough. Either way, ensure you add water minimally.
9. Bring out the kneaded dough from the bowl and then, set it on a lightly floured surface.
10. After you are done kneading the dough, wrap it with a plastic wrapper. Then, store the dough in a refrigerator for about an hour before using it.
Using your hand
To use your hand in the mixing of the pie crust dough, follow the steps below;
1. Add flour, sugar, and salt into a bowl. Stir the ingredients until they are evenly mixed.
2. Place cubes of butter in the bowl. Then, use a spatula to mix the whole thing evenly.
3. Use your hands to work the butter into the flour slowly.
4. Add iced water to the mix in bits. You should only stop adding water when the dough has formed a perfect ball.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and then, knead it over a lightly floured surface.
6. Store your dough in a freezer after wrapping it with a nylon wrapper.
Rolling the pie crust dough into a shape
The next procedure after forming the pie crust dough is to roll it out into a shape thin enough to be worked upon. Follow the steps below to roll out your dough.
1. Remove your pie crust dough from the freezer
2. Leave it on surface for a while to let it thaw.
3. Sprinkle flour across a surface and then, use a rolling pin to roll out the flour dough. While rolling out the flour, ensure that it is not sticking to the surface. If you notice that the dough is sticking, sprinkle the surface with more flour.
4. Roll the flattened dough around the rolling pin. Then unwind the pin into the baking dish.
5. Use your fingers to press the flattened dough to the bottom and sides of the baking dish.
The next stage involves baking your pie crust.
1. Heat up your oven to a temperature of about 425-degree Fahrenheit.
2. Knead out the pie crust dough and then, put it in a pie plate.
3. Run the edge of a knife through the upper surface of the crust to allow for the passage of air bubbles out of the mix.
4. Use a sheet of aluminum paper to coat the surface of the mix
5. Place something heavy on the aluminum sheet before freezing up the pie crust.
6. Place your pie crust in the preheated oven.
7. Whisk an egg yolk with cream in a bowl. Now, use the mix to coat the surface of the pie crust. Allow the pie crust to bake until the egg coating goes dry.
You are done.
How to make chicken pot pie crust crispy
Here, we will be considering the tips on how to make chicken pot pie crust crispy.
- When baking your pie crust, ensure that you coat the surface of the dough with a mix of egg yolk and cream.
- Before pouring in your filing into the pie crust, ensure that you coat the surface with syrup made out of corn.
- You can also coat the surface of your pie crust with melted chocolate before adding in your fillings
- Do not use too much water when making your pie crust dough.